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Robert Rodgers said he doesn't want to be seen as the bad guy anymore.

Rodgers' name surfaced again Saturday in a Standard-Speaker story about a video detailing the closure of the Mount Laurel Pool in Hazleton.

Although he was not specifically named in the video produced by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform as part of a lawsuit abuse campaign, Rodgers filed the suit after he fell at the pool in 2004.

"This was my first and only lawsuit. People see me as the bad guy - that I'm the guy who closed the pool for all the kids in Hazleton," he said, noting that he and his family were regular visitors.

Pool owner Evelyn Graham has maintained that the lawsuit - and fear of copycat lawsuits - resulted in her decision to close the pool at the end of the 2004 season.

Rodgers and his wife, Denise, sued Mount Laurel's insurance agency for $100,000. The video notes that a "settlement" was reached but Rodgers said it makes it seem as though the couple was awarded the entire amount.

Rodgers produced a statement of outcome from the case that showed he received $7,000 in 2005. After legal fees, the amount dropped to $4,666.

He said he filed the lawsuit even though Graham, a Hazleton City councilwoman, agreed to pay for his medical costs.

His concern, he said, was whether the seven sutures in his foot would make it impossible to work at his manufacturing job. Doctors could not predict how long the wounds would take to heal and whether he would have any nerve damage.

"Where I work I have to stand and walk all day. I was worried I wouldn't be able to pay my bills, pay my mortgage," he said.

To recoup the lost wages, Rodgers decided to sue.

"We went and got a lawyer and I told him I just wanted my medical costs taken care of, and also any lost wages from work," said Rodgers. "He advised me we would have to sue the (Mount Laurel Pool) insurance company."

While Rodgers said he was not looking for $100,000, he was advised that tort lawsuits seeking less than $50,000 in compensation for injuries must first go to arbitration - something he wanted to avoid. The couple sued for $100,000 on advice from an attorney.

"I agreed to settle once we came to a reasonable figure," he said.

Rodgers still has photographs of his foot, which was cut in three places, and of the broken drainage gate he stepped on when he jumped into the pool.

"He couldn't walk," his wife, Denise Rodgers, said. "It was deep. It was in the meat."

Rodgers was off from work for two-and-a-half weeks, he said.

The couple also had some qualms with the video, saying it makes light of the injuries. Rodgers also claims he was not running when the accident happened.

Even though the lawsuit was filed more than five years ago, Rodgers said many are still angry at him. Rodgers had hoped that once the news reports stopped, people would stop pointing the finger at him. The recent video, he said, is bringing it all back.

"I just want to clear my name on this," he said.

jwhalen@standardspeaker.com

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36 posted comments

This greedy, overly entitled plaintiff should be shunned by all product and service providers. A list should be started of all plaintiff and plaintiff lawyers. It should include judges biased in favor of plaintiff, which most are.

defamation of character, sue them again, then maybe that old bitty will finally forget about this and move on. Evelyn how old are you , you are acting like a child that has a candy bar taken off of her. You have more money than anyone in Hazleton and can buy any pool you want for the city so stop looking like a poor woman who had her pool taken away from her, you gave it away because you wanted to get rid of it.

I'm with Jennifer here. Evelyn Graham poured TONS of her own money into this project. The liability insurance on the slide alone had to be a fortune. The place was affordable, spotless, and well-run. It was a great place to take the family and a huge asset to the city of Hazleton. It truly was a labor of love for her and it was her gift to the city of Hazleton. I understand why she closed it. And this is a great example of why we need tort reform. It's such a shame that are no city pools in the city of Hazleton and probably never will be. Having a lack of summertime activities for kids can't be a good thing. I have absolutely no allegiance to Evelyn Graham. I've never met her, but I can tell you that she's great for the city of Hazleton.

Connie P. You're a liar. I was a lifeguard there & you are an outright liar. Noone dumped blood in the pool you sick, sick person. Boy, you and Mr. Rodgers should get together & write a fictional story (that noone would buy).

I agree that Graham must have been losing money. If she were making money a $7.000 lawsuit would not have closed the place down. And I also agree with Kelli however bad her grammer is it is still English.....more than I can say for the majority of this cities population! Just as the ampitheather is a stupid idea....who will go there....everything this city tries to do for the people "public" anything will be dominated by hispanics so why spend the money....money they did not contribute. You know artie I've noticed you always siding with the hispanics in your comments.You don't even live in Hazleton do you?????

You guys are just as bad as this guy wanting to sue for "defamation". Did he hurt his foot and sue? yes. did he sue for 100,000? yes. You can think whatever you want about him, thats not defamation...i think you all need to open up a dictionary before commenting. Even if the pool was loosing money, who wants to be sued by anyone at anytime? I would have closed up shop too. And by the way Kellie M, you can take the girl out of Hazleton, but you can't take Hazleton out of the girl!

With the dirt that you filled the pool with you could have helped fill thr hazleton creek properties insted of using dredge material from the delaware. Is the dirt you filled the pool safe and has it been tested by the Dept of envir resources? You could have donated the money from the dirt to help homeless shelters of the hazleton animal shelter. This was all atax write off for you who are you kidding and putting the blame on this poor man is ashame.

I am glad to see people stand up to mrs graham. She could definitley afford to keep the pool open on her own. Grace Cuozzo you are right. Hoorah for mister rogers. They are afraid of you thats why they cant let it go.

people need to read the article, this man got 4,000 dollars not 100 thousand dollars. thats chum change these days. Leave it to evelyn Graham to not maintain the pool and think she can get away with it. Wether she is rich or poor we all need to maintain our property.and yes you can sue for defamation, dont let anyone say you cant.

In order for someone to sue for defamation, the claim has to be false. What Mrs. Graham said was true, so this guy would never win a lawsuit against her. Nice try. Some people always look for an easy way to come up off of people who have money. Mrs. Graham was willing to pay this guy what he deserved- lost wages, medical bills and something reasonable over and above it to put in his pocket. Instead, just because she has money, he (or according to him, his lawyer) decided to be greedy and sue for the maximum policy limits of $100,000! That is frivolous! Trying to recover the full policy limits when your injury/losses clearly do not justify same! Plus then Mrs. Graham's insurance would have increased. So the Cuozzos of the world will say that she can afford to pay increased policy limits. No kidding Sherlock! Stop being jealous that the lady has money! She had to put her foot down so that she wasn't taken advantage of by this guy or anyone else! The point of the video was just to let people know how they hurt the whole community when they are greedy and file frivolous lawsuits!

People the freakin pool has been closed since 2004 we are in 2010. Some of you really know how to beat a dead horse. And always remember never say never because you never know what you would do in that situation until it happens to you. You's all love to be victims. With everything else going on in the world step out of the bubbles that most of you live in and you will see that a pool closing is not the end of the world.

First off ...this guy PAID to go into that pool like everyone else. That pool should have been maintained. Enter/Swim at your own risk doesn't mean that they don't have to keep up maintenance as to avoid injury. If it had happened to any one of you Im sure you would have done the same thing no matter what you say. Get over it! If the (Illegal)HISPANICS and other foreigners can come here and take our hard earned tax $ then this guy deserves to be paid for his injury no matter how big or small it was. Thats what Insurance is for!

Clear his name, it's because of him that a local pool was shut down. If he cared so much he wouldn't have sued to begin with. Kids in the Hazleton Area have no where to go in the summer now thanks to this man. Mrs. Graham and her family have done so much for the community and one person has ruined it for the whole community. And whatever attorney took on this case should lose their license to practice since it was a frivolous case.